When I made it inside, I quietly shut the door behind me. I hurried to get ready, wanting to leave before Cooper woke up. As my curling iron heated, I applied my makeup. I put on more than I normally would, but it had the desired effect. My eyes were smoky, and my skin looked satin smooth with only the faintest color in my cheeks. The bruises on my face were starting to heal, and I was finally able to hide them completely. I was rather proud of myself. I looked almost seductive. I hoped that would work in my favor.
I made sure my curling iron was hot before separating pieces of my hair and wrapping it around the barrel. It took longer than I would have liked, but in the end, I thought it was worth it. I looked like the wife of Robert Evans—beautiful, poised, flawless even.
I slipped out of the bathroom and made my way to the stairs. I glanced at Cooper’s door and was relieved to see that it was still shut, and there was no sign of him. Hopefully, he would sleep for at least another hour or so. He knew I was supposed to be at work today, so I doubted if he would bother me. Still, I didn’t want to hang around until he decided to grace the world with his presence. I could fib to him over the phone, but I wasn’t sure I could lie right to his face.
I hurried down the stairs and grabbed my purse off the living room table. I’d left the will and divorce papers in it last night, not wanting to accidentally leave them behind. I dug out my keys as I walked to the garage entrance. As soon as I walked into the garage, I ran to my car and climbed in. I started the car and backed out. As I drove to the gates, I glanced back at the house. I almost expected to see Cooper watching me from the front door, but he was nowhere to be seen.
I didn’t relax until I was on the main road. I was being silly. I knew that. There was no reason for Cooper to look for me. He had no idea what I was up to. If he had seen me leave, he would assume I was going to work.
Once I was a few miles from the house, I pulled over and pulled the divorce papers out of my purse. Marie’s lawyer, Kevin Peters, had his office address listed at the bottom. I quickly typed it into my GPS. I pulled back into traffic as my GPS spewed directions out to me. It would take almost five hours to reach Mr. Peter’s firm. I pressed the gas pedal further down once I hit I-68. I needed to make time however I could even if it meant breaking a few traffic laws here and there.
I spent most of my time flipping through radio channels, trying to find something to occupy my mind. After I’d realized that the lawyer might have the answers I needed, I’d spent most of the previous night trying to figure out how to approach him. I had a solid plan in mind, and I didn’t want to screw it up by overthinking. I was going to claim that I’d found the divorce papers by accident, which was true. Upon seeing them, I’d grown worried because Robert had never hinted that his first marriage had failed. Again, that was the truth. I would ask Mr. Peters if he could give me any details about why she had filed and how Robert had obtained the papers. I wasn’t sure how I was going to slip that last part in, but I would find a way.
I didn’t want him to think I suspected anything about Marie’s death. I was simply the new wife who was too curious for her own good. If Marie had maybe confided in her lawyer enough, I would finally get some answers, answers that I knew Cooper would never be able to find.
I only stopped once at a gas station to grab a soda and a pack of crackers. I was starving, but I didn’t have time for anything else. I regretted not stopping to eat something before I left the house, but my grumbling stomach would have to wait.
As the miles disappeared behind me, I felt a calm settle over me. This lawyer would have the answers I desired. I was sure of it. My gut instinct said so, and I trusted it. I just hoped that whatever he could tell me would incriminate Robert enough for Cooper to go to the police with his suspicions. It would have to be concrete evidence though. Otherwise, they would laugh at both of us. Plus, if he went with something that could be swept away, any chance of us catching Robert would disappear. Robert was too well connected, and someone would be sure to tell him that Cooper was on to him.
When I reached the outskirts of Richmond, traffic slowed to a crawl. I impatiently tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I puttered along. The roads remained just as congested until I reached the law office. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and winced. I’d made good time the whole way until I reached the city, but traffic had slowed me way down. It had taken me over five hours to reach his office. I would have to drive even faster on the way home to avoid Cooper’s suspicion. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to hide my trip from him at all, but even if I learned nothing today, I had no intention of telling him about my little adventure.
I was surprised when I pulled into the small parking lot in front of the law firm. I had expected something…more, especially since it was located in the heart of Richmond. Instead, I stared at a small one-story building made out of red brick. It looked like a house that had been converted into an office building. There was a large wooden sign in the tiny front lawn, proclaiming the name, Peters and Taleri. That was it. If I hadn’t noticed the sign, I would have assumed that I was at the wrong place.
I climbed out of my car and walked the ten short steps it took to reach the building. Without pausing to rethink my decision to come here, I opened the door and stepped inside. A small desk covered in papers was the first thing I saw. A frazzled-looking woman, who had to be in her late sixties, sat behind the desk.
She looked up and smiled at me. “Can I help you?” she asked.
I almost winced at the gravelly sound of her voice. It didn’t match her tiny frame and short gray hair at all.
“I wanted to see if I could speak with Mr. Peters,” I said.
“Do you have an appointment?”
I wanted to kick myself as I shook my head. “I don’t, but I only need to speak with him for a moment or two. Is he in?”
She carefully studied me. “He is, but you need an appointment to see him.”
I stepped closer to the desk with a pleading expression on my face. “Please”—I glanced at the nameplate on her desk—“Alice, I came a long way to see him, and it’s very important.”
She sighed. “Next time, make an appointment, okay?”
I nodded. “I promise I will.”
She stood and walked around her desk. “Give me a moment.”
I watched as she walked to the nearest doorway and disappeared through it. As I waited, I studied my surroundings. Like the outside, the inside was very plain. It looked as if Mr. Peters and his partner had simply bought the house and moved in, leaving everything exactly the way it had been when the building served as a house.
The floor was a simple hardwood with a shag rug running from the door to the desk. A couch and coffee table was set to my left. There were no overhead lights, but a large lamp sat on Alice’s desk, and another had been placed on a small table in the corner. It made the room extremely dim. If it weren’t for the two windows covered in thin lace curtains, it would’ve been too dark to see.
“This way, please,” Alice said from the doorway.
I turned and silently followed her. It was time to find some answers.
Alice and I walked through the doorway and down a short hallway. We passed a room with the door wide open. It was a tiny bathroom. We walked by another door that was shut before reaching the last door. After a brief knock, Alice opened the door and gestured for me to enter.
I thanked her before stepping into the room. As soon as I was inside, Alice shut the door behind me. I glanced around the room. It was very simple with only a desk, two chairs, a small table, and a few filing cabinets. There were no decorations at all.
A man in his late fifties sat behind the desk, expectantly staring at me. His hair was a dirty-blond color. He kept it cut short on the sides while the top of his head was shiny and bald. His face was lined with a few wrinkles, mainly around his eyes and across his forehead.
“Can I help you, Miss…” he spoke as he stood up.
My eyes widened in surprise at the v
olume of his booming voice.
I mentally shook myself from my stupor. “Mrs. Evans.” I crossed the room and stopped directly across from him.
We shook hands for a moment before I pulled away.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Evans. What brings you to my office today?”
I sat down in one of the chairs as he took his own seat. “I actually wanted to talk to you about a former client of yours.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
I reached into my purse and pulled out the envelope that held the divorce papers. “Do you remember Marie Evans?”
I saw his eyes widen just a fraction. I knew without a doubt that he remembered.
“I think I’ve heard the name before,” he said, his tone flat.
“She came to you a few years ago. She wanted to divorce her husband, Robert. He’s a lawyer in Morgantown, West Virginia. Does that refresh your memory?”
“Yes, I believe it does. What exactly do you want to know about her?”
I handed the envelope to him. “I found these while sorting through some files at my home. As I’m sure you’re aware, Marie passed away in a car accident. Robert has since remarried. I’m his wife.”
He slid the papers out of the envelope and looked them over. “Yes, I remember working with Marie on these, but I don’t understand why you’re here now.”
I put on the most innocent expression I could manage. “Well, you see, since Robert is my husband now, I can’t help but be curious as to why she wanted a divorce. I read over the documents, but irreconcilable differences doesn’t really explain much to me. My husband never once mentioned a divorce to me. He’s stated that Marie was the love of his life.”
He studied me for a moment. I hated how I couldn’t read any emotion in his eyes at all. He wore the same lawyer’s mask that Robert wore on a daily basis.
“As the papers say, Marie wanted a divorce due to irreconcilable differences. I can’t really tell you more about her. I do not hand out my client’s case information, deceased or not.”
I felt a flutter of anxiety deep in my chest. I had to get him to talk to me. “Please, Mr. Peters. I’m worried over this. I just want to know why she wanted this divorce. The way Robert has portrayed them, they were very happy together.”
“Does your husband know that you’re here, Mrs. Evans?” Mr. Peters asked.
I shook my head. “Of course not. I didn’t want to bother him with this, which is why I’m here bothering you.”
“How long have you been married to him?”
I gave him a questioning look. “Not long at all. Why does that matter?”
He ignored my question and asked one of his own, “Did you know your husband while Marie was still alive?”
I shook my head. “No, we only met a few months ago.”
He nodded, satisfied with my answer. Then, he leaned back in his chair and studied me. The seconds ticked by as I waited for him to speak again.
“Has your husband ever given you a reason to fear for your safety?”
His question surprised me. “Why would you ask that?”
He smiled. “I’m simply trying to get a feel for you and your relationship with your husband.” His voice flowed without giving any emotion at all.
I watched him closely, hoping that he would give some hint as to what he was thinking. There was nothing. His eyes were still completely blank. I had no idea what was running through his mind.
Making a split-second decision, I stood. Before he could ask what I was doing, I turned to the side and raised my shirt enough to display my ribs. I left the bruises Robert had given me visible for only a few seconds before lowering my shirt and sitting back down.
“Does that answer your question, Mr. Peters?”
He cleared his throat. “Yes, I believe it does.” He paused. “I would think that you might understand how much trouble you could cause by contacting me, Mrs. Evans. Clearly, your ribs have suffered enough.”
“That’s exactly why I need to know why Marie wanted a divorce. I need to know if he treated her the way he has treated me.”
“That knowledge will do more harm than good.”
I shrugged. “Maybe, but I have a right to know what could happen if I decide to file for divorce, or better yet, if I stay and hope that he turns over a new leaf.”
“The mere fact that you’re sitting in my office tells you more than I ever could.”
“I need to know what she told you, Mr. Peters. I’m begging you to help me find the answers I’m seeking.” Even I could hear the desperation in my voice.
He sighed. “Very well then.” He glanced down at the papers on his desk before looking at me again. “When Mrs. Evans came to my office, she explained exactly what her situation was. Once I understood, I started on the paperwork immediately. Mrs. Evans gave me a detailed account of the last few years of their marriage, making it clear as to why she not only wanted a divorce, but why she’d come all the way to Richmond to find a lawyer. Your husband is a very powerful man, Mrs. Evans. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”
“Indeed, I am,” I said.
“Robert’s power reaches far and wide—not only with the law firms in the area, but also with government officials and your local police department. Marie knew that if she went to anyone in Morgantown, Robert would find out immediately. She planned to pack her things and leave the house while he was away. The divorce papers would be waiting for him when he returned, and Marie would stay in a location that he wasn’t aware of. You see, the bruises on you are not the first I’ve seen from Mr. Evans. Marie also had bruises.”
“He beat her.” The words came out of me as nothing more than a whisper.
He nodded. “Yes, he did. He also abused her emotionally. The woman was a wreck, inside and out, but she hid it very well. Still, she was determined to escape since her son was over eighteen and could escape as well.”
“How long did the abuse go on?”
“Years,” he stated.
“Why would she stay with him for so long then?” I demanded. “How could she live through years of abuse?”
“Because she loved her son, and she was doing her best to protect him. She feared that, if she left, Robert would fight for custody and win. She didn’t want to leave her son alone with his father.”
I shook my head. If I told Cooper what Marie had done for him, he’d never forgive himself.
“In the year prior to her coming to my office, the abuse had intensified greatly. Marie also learned that her husband was having multiple affairs with other women. One of those women was her best friend.”
“Sandra,” I said, annoyance clear in my voice.
I remembered Marie’s best friend very clearly. She’d berated me in front of an entire room of people the first and only time I’d met her. Later, Cooper had shown me photos of Sandra and Robert together.
“Yes. Marie had had enough, which is why she sought me out. I wasn’t one of the many lawyers in her husband’s pocket. I was far enough away to be a safe choice.”
“So, what happened?” I asked.
“Two days before I was supposed to send the divorce papers to Robert, Marie died.”
“In a car accident,” I stated. “An accident that happened while Robert was out of town.”
He nodded. “Indeed.”
“A woman secretly files for divorce from her abusive husband, but before the papers could be served and the community found out that their marriage wasn’t as perfect as it seemed, she was killed. That doesn’t sound suspicious at all.” My sarcasm was clear.
“I see we have the same thoughts on that matter. In addition to her…untimely demise, Marie had left a letter with me that she wanted sent to her son if something happened to her. Obviously, Marie had realized that there was a chance that something could happen to her.”
“He had her killed,” I said. It was true after all.
The man before me believed the same thing that Cooper did.
“The
re is no proof of that at all. Mr. Evans was in a different city when it happened. Plus, car accidents are a common occurrence. They happen daily.”
“He made sure that it would never fall on him. Everyone assumed that he and Marie were still happily married. No one would even think about him hurting her.” I paused. “But there’s one thing that I don’t understand.”
“And what is that?”
“How did Robert know about the divorce if you hadn’t sent the papers yet? He obviously did since I found these.”
The lawyer’s eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn’t catch. Guilt?
He looked me straight in the eyes. “As I said before, your husband is a very powerful man. Anyone who goes against him is a fool.”
It clicked then. “He came to you, didn’t he? He threatened you.”
His eyes flashed again, and I knew for certain that I saw guilt in them.
“It seems Robert was having Marie followed. He paid me a visit and made it quite clear that he had…several friends in high places. More specifically, he had several former clients who owed him favors. Your husband is a defense attorney, so I’m sure you can figure out what kind of clients he meant.”
“He did threaten you!” I said, suddenly sick to my stomach.
“He asked why his wife was coming to see me. I had no choice but to give him an answer. Not only my reputation, but also my life was on the line. I’m not proud of what I did, Mrs. Evans. I hope you’re aware of that.”
“If he had Marie followed, he might be doing the same with me.”
My heart sank. He could already know that I was here.
“That is a very real possibility. My suggestion is that you do not return to my office again.”
I leaned forward until my chest pressed against his desk. “I need proof that he was involved in Marie’s death. Do you have anything, anything at all, that could help me?”
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